I see the term “al dente” all the time in pasta recipes, and yes, I know it translates literally to “to the tooth”, but what does that really mean? How do I tell when it’s done al dente?
For the purposes of Pasta it means still firm to the touch.
So spaghetti typically takes 8-11 minutes to cook in boiling water.
At 8 minutes it has softened but is still firm and thus Al Dente.
by 11 minutes it is soggy and limp.
It means the pasta still has some bite to it. Soft on the outside but a chewy core. It means stop cooking before the pasta is soggy mush. I do a taste-test to confirm, and for spaghetti, when the noodles just start to stick to a wooden spoon it’s about there.